


Taisho Psychology

by Anonymous



Series: Detective Akechi Case Files [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Historical, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Illiterate Character, Maids, Nonbinary Character, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-13 15:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14751401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: This whole detective thing might actually be a lot more fulfilling than Akechi had previously anticipated.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I saw [this](https://twitter.com/abco414/status/999183791682797570) AMAZING FANART and just kind of went a trance and typed all this spoo. Set in a kind of similar setting to Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha ig? W lots of liberties taken as per.

“Good morning Ren. You look lovely as always.” Goro strolls into the office with a smile that glows with the morning sun. 

“Die in a hole.” Ren says from under a pile of letters and packages. Those had become frequent as of late.

“Just as lovely as the day we met,” Goro continues. Setting his attaché case next to his desk before taking a seat. A day he remembers very well seeing as Ren had shown up the day he’d registered the office.

“Hello. Amamiya Ren,” they had said, bowing deeply. “I’m your new assistant, please take care of me.”

“Uh.” Goro said intelligently. Looking Ren up and down didn’t give him much. The country was changing and part of that meant that there were diminishing returns in making assumptions on one’s appearance. 

Ren was dressed for sunny days and a chilly nights, lots of layers. Unfortunately their black cape covers most of their body, obscuring any tell he may have been able to detect. The cape stops at the middle of Ren’s shins and Goro saw heeled boots. Someone who dressed for messy floors.

Essentially his great detective brain gave him nothing.

He looked at the boxes and papers strewn about the property, all caked in a layer of dust. The office, donning the guise of being a detective, it had all been done in secrecy. So who the hell was this Ren?

“I didn’t put out any kind of job opening.” Goro gestured around the space, “as you can see I’m not established.”

“So you need an assistant,” Ren said looking up.

“That’s-“

“You’re going to tidy all of this yourself?” Ren leaned in closer to him and Goro couldn’t breath with him this close. None of this had occurred to him, he hadn’t been expecting to be given a complete pit for an office.

“Yes,” he said before Ren waves a hand in dismissal.

“Good joke. Anyway we have lots of work to do.”

Ren’s heels clack loudly on the wooden floor with each brusque step in they take. They grasp the fastener of the cape and like a magician they tear away the cape with a gallant dust-clearing flourish. For a moment the cape looks like a giant raven spreading its wings in the middle of the room. Then the cape flops into Ren’s arms and by some otherworldly force it’s already folded.

Under the cape Ren wore a rather archaic western dress. Goro originally pegged Ren as someone who had a fashionable if fluffy bob cut to blend in with modern city life. However most who styled themselves as such generally dressed much flashier. This long black dress with long sleeves and frilly white apron were all quite modest. Maybe a slight flair was the red bow at the neck. 

The loud quiet drew Goro out of his thoughts. By now Ren had set a giant black bag on a table and donned a white handkerchief to cover their face. 

“Wake up!” Came Ren’s voice breaking him out of his reverie.

Goro looks down and his hands had paused mid word on his typewriter. This was the third time this week. Thankfully the good assistant had kept him from losing too much time to daydreams. However the ease with which he got lost in himself was troubling. 

A plate of biscuits and coffee had found their way to his desk at some point. Who was he kidding it was Ren’s impeccable work as always. 

Grabbing the cup Goro gets one good sip in before Ren holds the receiver to his ear.

“Hello?” He says, miraculously not choking on his coffee.

“Akechi Detective Agency?” The voice on the other end falls on the deeper side, they’ve got some kind of speaking affect that Goro can’t place.

“Yes,” Goro says pleasantly. “How may I help you?”

“Got your name from the good folks in Lion Manor.” 

Goro narrows his eyes.

“Gotta keep this real hush hush see? I’m being targeted by them. Let’s meet at the Catholic Church near the trolley station in two hours.” 

By now Goro has centred himself enough to set down the mug of coffee and take the receiver from Ren. The person on the phone definitely sounds like a thug, but if they are coming to him from Lion Manor then Goro doesn’t have a choice in this.

“You realise how dodgy this all seems,” Goro drawls.

“Who’s dodgy!?” The caller snaps, “uh I mean look I’m just worried they’re listening. _Phantoms_ you know. Said they got eyes and ears everywhere.”

“A phantom?” A grin spreading on his face, he’s back on board. “Very well then. The church in two hours.” This might just be worth his while. 

The caller hangs up and Goro places the receiver back on the stand in turn. 

“Ren my darling assistant we’ve got a new case,” Goro beams at his assistant. 

“He sounds like a thug.” Ren says with a click of their tongue.

“Oh don’t be so near-sighted. This could be fun.” 

Goro watches as Ren’s gaze slowly goes to the pin board covered in newspaper articles then back to him.

“It’s the Phantoms isn’t it.” Ren says, face blank.

“You got me. Aren’t you curious about them too?” When Ren doesn’t answer Goro pushes on, “business has really picked up since they became active.”

Ren hums, grabbing a biscuit and holding it to Goro’s lips. “We’re gonna bike right? Did you skip breakfast again?” 

“I had an apple.” Goro says before biting onto the biscuit.

Ren tuts but otherwise doesn’t grace him with a response. 

Being a member of the Lion Manor of a sort had allowed him access to doors unknown to the average person. Obviously he’d attempted to use this mobility to try getting dirt on Ren.

No make-up or prosthetics. The occasional slip of an accent that he could pinpoint as being west of the Capital. Ren’s face and voice were his only solid clues.

The first hypothesis was that Ren was sent by Lion Manor. Clever, combat-trained assistants that made incredible coffee didn’t just appear out of the ether. Especially not before establishing a proper detective agency.

Sending in a Swiss Army knife in human form to work for him seemed uncharacteristically generous for Lion Manor. Yet he couldn’t think of another organisation that would have access to such a enigmatic individual.

Goro taps a finger to his chin and looks over to Ren in their tiny office kitchen grinding beans. Actually the jury still might be out on the ‘human’ part.

Of course there were Amamiya Rens in the registry, however be they too old or too young or what have you. None of them panned out to be the Ren in his very office.

Perhaps Ren was a fake name. Maybe Ren crawled out of the ocean.

Goro watches as Ren set their metal coffee maker on the stove.

Maybe Ren’s family situation was like his own. He grimaces at the thought.

How funny it was that he spent a lot of his days scrounging for a good mystery when he needn’t look further than his own office.

There’s a yelp from the stove, it appears Ren burnt themself.

Goro looks to his own hands, he’s stopped mid-sentence while typing again. He takes another swig of coffee. It wasn’t long until they had to head for the church, he’ll finish this report no matter what.

***

Outside the church is a big unidentifiable cigar chomping eyesore. Goro has a really bad feeling that it’s probably the client. Most people who were members of Lion Manor shared the client’s atrocious sense of style.

Ren pulls into an alley and with practised ease Goro waits for Ren to slow down before tossing away the excess dress fabric bunched in his hands before jumping off. Not before bearing down on Ren’s shoulders hard. There’s a moment where it looks like the dress will snag in the gears and Goro sucks in a breath.

It doesn’t, he lets it out.

After Ren parks the bike Goro collects his briefcase and they set out to the front of the church.

On a whim Goro waves when the flashy man looks their way and the man waves in kind.

“Kaneshiro Junya,” the portly man grunts holding out a hand. “Who’s this?” He says squinting a beady eye at Ren.

“My partner,” Goro says with a smile.

“Assistant.” Ren corrects.

“Knows how to keep it mum yeah?” Kaneshiro says but has already stopped paying attention to Ren. “Anyway so the Phantoms.” He spits with disdain and rummages in his sleeve. “Found this in my study the other day,” he pulls out a flashy black and red card.

Goro takes the card and looks it over. Kaneshiro Junya, accused of throttling students and getting them to push contraband. The card finishes with a statement about taking Kaneshiro’s heart.

Oh this guy, prime bankroller of Lion Manor.

“They’re after my treasure.” 

Ren’s shoulders jump at the statement and Goro raises an eyebrow at the both of them.

“Your treasure,” Goro says.

“You saw that bit about taking my heart yeah?” Kaneshiro puffs his chest and produces a photo from his sleeve. “Behold, the Heart of Samael.”

Goro takes the photo and his jaw drops. In the photo is a giant yellow diamond cut in the shape of a heart, there’s a milk bottle behind it for scale. This must be the biggest diamond on earth. At least Asia, Goro didn’t think diamonds this big turned up at all.

“The Phantoms are coming for the Heart.”

“Mr. Kane-“ Goro starts. The first thing he would have Kaneshiro know is the Phantoms have never targeted material goods.

“This is where you come in short stack.”

“Sir-“ Goro says with more conviction. Who was this pig calling short when Goro was in fact taller than him?

“Your job’s gonna be protecting the Heart of Samael. I’ve got a plan.” Kaneshiro finishes, looking very accomplished.

“Right,” Goro says wearily. “Let’s hear it.”

Ultimately he gets a whole earful of nothing from Kaneshiro. A Model T pulls up to them on the tail end of their discussion and Goro has to keep from gaping when Kaneshiro steps into it.

“I’ll see you there yeah? I’m counting on you!” 

With that he shuts the door and the Model T rolls away.

“Wow,” Ren says.

Wow indeed. 

“I hate him.” 

So does he. For once Goro can’t find it in himself to tease Ren for a lack of filter.

The walk back to the alley where they parked the bike is quiet save for the scuffing of their footsteps and the squeak of Goro’s gloves as he clenches his fists.

Kaneshiro’s grand plan was to throw ‘the most magnificent ball the world has witnessed’ to ‘lure out the Phantoms’.

“You smell like tobacco.” Ren says, scrunching their nose.

“Probably from the client.”

Before Goro can continue Ren’s already pulled out a small bottle and sprayed his coat.

“Vanilla!?” Ren gasps.

“What were you expecting?” Goro rolls his eyes.

“There’s a flower,” Ren mumbles, sticking the bottle in his face and Goro takes it. 

“It’s a vanilla flower,” he says. Turning the bottle around he hands it back to Ren. “It says vanilla on the bottle.” 

“In English!”

“And in Japanese,” Goro says gently pointing to the label.

“Katakana,” Ren says growing quiet again. 

Goro’s face heats up. Ren gets by so well he keeps forgetting about that. Though given Ren’s blank stare it doesn’t seem any harm has been done.

“I’ll pedal this time,” Goro says adjusting the bike. “Hold on tight.” 

The bike shifts as Ren side-saddles behind him then winds arms around his waist. “I’ll take over if you get tired.”

Goro hums an affirmative and begins to pedal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've ever thought 'man i wish akechi and akiren had a sherlock and watson dynamic but like mega gay' congrats because you're in luck.

Goro stands in the office doorway staring at Ren and the abyss stares back.

“Ah,” Goro says trailing an eye over Ren. Then he looks to his own red, white, and gold ensemble. Perhaps they should have coordinated outfits beforehand. Everyone’s eyes would be on them, visually they made quite the pair. Goro loves and hates the thought.

“White,” Ren murmurs. The displeasure on their face enhanced by red lips and liner reinforced eyes and lashes.

“Yes.” Goro nods, “white and gold are in vogue this season. I do believe you even had a comment on this outfit once.” Cupping his elbow and pensively holding his chin he wonders aloud, “what was it again?”

“Ah,” Goro claps his hands together. “That I was ‘dashing’ and ‘like a prince’, correct?”

Currently the look on Ren’s face was the one they reserved for telling Goro he’s a bad detective.

“Gonna blow our cover,” Ren grumbles. 

“We’re not thieves though, we don’t have to sneak around and I think we should use that to our advantage.”

Ren glares at him and points accusingly to the lesser used pin board next to Goro’s desk. 

There’s a brief pause as Goro wonders how best to address this. 

“Those are the articles for new shops in the Capital I want to visit,” Goro says patiently. He has an idea of what Ren might be getting at though.

“I keep the cutouts pertaining to me in my briefcase. I’d rather my image not be subjected to your target practice.” he adds, gesturing to the wooden board on the wall. The original case board. At some point Goro had pinned photos of case relevant parties to the board. Just as he had pinned photos and clippings to better visualise his cases, Ren got bored from time to time and subsequently took it out on the photos.

It had all gone downhill after the first knife.

“I assure you I’ve taken my meagre celebrity into account in preparing for today.” He pats their head, taking the edge off of Ren’s glare. “Besides,” Goro looks pointedly at Ren. 

Large pearls snugly wreath their neck. Goro doesn’t believe he’s ever seen Ren’s bare arms in all the time they’ve worked together. In stark opposition to the norm not only does he get an eyeful of Ren’s arms but their broad shoulders as well with this sleeveless black dress. 

The dress itself is a rather tight high-collared number that begins midway on Ren’s neck and ends mid thigh. All of this discounting the giant black fur coat that quadruples Ren’s mass at minimum.

“I don’t think my outfit is the one we should be concerned about drawing attention.” Goro says, casting a quick eye over small slits in the sides of the dress. Occasionally they strain around Ren’s legs. His eyes rake over their bare arms and the free skin between the end of the dress and heeled ankle boots. Purely for investigative reasons of course, he reasons as he looks for any moles or birthmarks. Perhaps even tattoos.

Anything concrete that could tell him about his mysterious assistant.

When Ren swings the fur coat to cover up their legs Goro knows his gaze has overstayed its welcome. He whips his head back up to face Ren.

“I’m dressed for mobility,” Ren says.

Goro flicks one of their huge door-knocker earrings to Ren’s chagrin. “Mobility indeed.” He moves for the door, Ren doesn’t follow.

“How do I look?”

His hand goes slack on the doorknob. “Usually when people go fishing they start with something nice to say.”

“‘Dashing like a prince.’” Ren says, mimicking Goro’s earlier timbre. 

“I was saying that in reference to the past. Does that still hold true now?”

“Yeah. Your hair though,” Ren’s voice trails off. 

Their modest heels clack on the wood floor as they circle behind him. 

Ren’s touching his hair and neck. 

To Goro’s horror the contact blanks out everything in his mind but his heartbeat and the warmth of Ren’s hands. It takes a mortifying amount of time for Goro to realise that Ren’s dragging fingers through his hair and trying to fix a small ponytail for him. 

“This won’t look bizarre?” Goro asks. In vain given that it’s Ren and their fashion sense but he needs to know.

“No.”

He looks at Ren for a long moment before heading to his desk to fish a mirror out of the bottom drawer. 

Ren gasps, “we have a mirror here? Leave it out from now on.”

“Of course,” Goro says. “Do be careful with it though, I’d hate for this office to be cursed.”

It would be good if they had a full-length mirror in the office. He’d prefer being able to see how this hairstyle went with the entire outfit but he’d have to settle for this mirror only fit his head and shoulders in its reflection.

The ponytail is alright, he concludes. Loathe as he may be to admit it the ponytail does streamline his appearance. However it also makes his shoulders look unproportional to his head somehow.

“You look good,” Ren says quietly straightening out his epaulets.

It’s small but it sets Goro’s chest aflutter nonetheless. Ren’s just conditioned him that well, or he really is that much of a narcissist, or both perhaps. What a horrible thought either way.

“So.” Ren looks at him expectantly.

“Absolutely stunning my dear Amamiya.” It sounds insincere even to himself and he has to resist pinching his arm. He sounds like the foreign novels he reads and he’s not sure how he feels about that. All the time spent in the Academy and Lion Manor have rendered his voice and words alien to himself. How droll.

“You look wonderful,” he tries again squeezing Ren’s shoulder and toning down the smile. 

Ren beams at him, just a gentle curve to the mouth and without glasses the full onslaught of their smile hits hard. Maybe Goro could master that kind of physical subtlety some day. 

He looks to the clock.

“We must be off.” Goro says, holding the door for Ren. 

Goro had thought this all through, but obviously the situations his mind conjured weren’t always one to one with reality.

It’s all he can do not to squirm where they stand in the trolley. Ren had taken his hand in their own at some point, probably sensing the discomfort rolling off him.

Goro leans into Ren. “Can we disembark here?”

Ren tilts their head. “It’s the stop after.”

Goro winces. “This is weird.” 

He hoped he didn’t have to add ‘possible paranoia’ under ‘possible narcissism’ on his long list of character flaws. Ren must sense it, he thinks taking look around the carriage. 

“We should get our ticket’s worth.” Ren says sliding their thumb under his glove and lightly stroking the back of his hand. It feels soft, unfortunately it also rockets up his distress in the current situation.

The trolley is full on this late autumn afternoon. Thankfully they had left early enough so they didn’t have to fight for standing space. However if they were in a full carriage the other riders probably wouldn’t be staring at them so. In a sea of students and elders they look ridiculous.

“It won’t be long Goro,” Ren murmurs softly.

For whatever reason he believes them.

As the good assistant says it doesn’t take long for them after this stop. Even with his hyperventilating brain stretching the seconds like taffy. While the trolley doesn’t take long, the trolley does unfortunately drop them right across from a huge crowd.

“Don’t tell me…” Ren gasps.

“They probably are,” he groans. “The Imperial is huge. However if the queue is backed up this bad the vetting process must be quite severe.” 

Which means they aren’t going to let some hooligan youths into the building. Lucky for them Akechi Goro isn’t a run of the mill hooligan youth.

As if he is Moses the crowd parts for him like the Red Sea. They herald his arrival with copious oohs and ahs. Clearly the pair have underestimated the attention brought by this media fabricated Phantoms/Detective rivalry. 

“Regarde my darling assistant,” Goro says gesturing around them with his left arm, Ren clinging to his right. “Celebrity isn’t all bad.”

Ren huddles closer, “everyone’s gonna swarm you and the Heart’s gonna get stolen.” 

“Can’t say I regret it if it disturbs you this much. Call it revenge for the trolley,” Goro says with a laugh. By now Ren hinders his movement with their antics. “Were you a ninja before this? You keep this up and I’ll think you have an actual problem with being seen.”

“Yeah.” 

“Really?” 

There’s an interesting tidbit. It would explain a lot about Ren, their unnatural stealth, the incredible sleight of hand, their proficiency with small knives.

“No.”

Whatever reprimand he has for Ren’s lily white lie dies on his tongue as Ren abruptly untangles themself from Goro’s arm. They throw their coat on proper, obscuring their body from neck to ankles. 

A few more steps and they stand before the large ornate doors of The Imperial. Goro stands a little straighter, puffs his chest out and folds his arms behind his back. A stiff pose often utilised in the Academy. 

“Akechi Goro the Detective Prince,” the person tending the guest list says nodding and the tall guards flanking the door give way.

“Thank you,” Goro says. “But please allow us to do this properly anyway.” A tilt of the head, his best evening radio laugh. “Ren if you would?”

Wordlessly Ren presents their letter of recommendation with both hands, bowing slightly in the process. The attendant takes it and they move forth.

Until a second set of guards at a second set of doors stops them again.

“Detective we’ll have to check your briefcase and cape.” 

“Of course,” Goro says setting his case on the table and undoes the clasp of his cape.

One guard opens the case, the other steps next to Ren. “We’ll also have to check your assistant.” Goro can feel the vicious edge his face takes, he quashes it in a second.

Ren makes no move to open their coat.

“My assistant is very shy and very cold.” Goro states matter of fact. “Check their coat if you must but I assure you they have no bags.”

He bites the inside of his cheek. 

“Pockets?” The guard inquires.

“Two on the outside of the coat,” Goro answers. “Their…” he falters, “their outfit does not allow them to hide anything on their person.”

The guard nods. “I understand.”

Aside from briefly palpating the large sleeves on Ren and gesturing for them to empty their pockets the guard leaves them be.

“Please enjoy yourselves.” 

They take a few steps and the large doors shut behind them. Thus leaving them alone in a hallway with a high ceiling and large potted plants in spacious intervals along the wall.

Goro leads Ren behind a plant.

“Ren,” he says pleasantly.

Even with his assistant twisting around and bending while searching for something Goro can hardly tell anything amiss is going on with how large the coat is. How useful.

“Here,” Ren produces what looks to be a large grey cross. He takes it, noting that it’s warm to the touch.

“How did you hide this?” He says in awe. 

“I wasn’t sure they’d let me keep the coat so…”

Goro listens but he can’t help his curiosity. Grabbing the longer end of the cross he raises his arm.

“What are you doing!?” Ren says latching onto his wrist. Not even giving Goro the chance to defend himself before grabbing the cross and slamming it into the briefcase.

After Ren adjusts the coat to expose their shoulders Goro holds his arm out. 

“Shall we go in?”

Ren bats his arm away. Goro assumes he must be making quite the face because soon enough Ren bursts into laughter and takes his arm back.

With that Akechi Goro and Amamiya Ren step into The Imperial’s main hall.


	3. Chapter 3

Enough time has passed without any unusual happenings for a party that they’re both either too on edge or not alert enough.

Monitoring the diamond is easy enough. A small case housing a smaller diamond would ordinarily be dwarfed by the gigantic ballroom. However as this was a party conceived by one of the most extreme members of the egalitarian class, the display obviously did not end there. 

How Kaneshiro got a stone pavilion set up indoors in less than a day, Goro doesn’t care to think about. 

Either way it made pinpointing the case much easier. Especially since the the attendees had all lost interest in crowding the gem after the first hour.

Initially they had done very well in keeping the other focused on the task at hand, but an hour of inactivity dulls their motivation quick. Whether it’s Ren keeping him on a leash or he, Ren, Goro isn’t sure.

Probably neither.

“Look Ren there’s a dart board. We must go investigate at once,” he says cheerfully. 

Ren points angrily to the pavilion in the centre of the room, also far far away from the darts. Usually, Goro is the killjoy between them. He could be mature and acquiesce that yes indeed they should probably keep an eye on the case.

Or he could get even.

“Boss can we at least go dance or somethin’?” 

“You like dancing?” Goro says, a grin spreading on his face as he takes hold of Ren’s hand. 

“You see anything else to do?” Ren grumbles.

“Can’t argue with that,” Goro says and throws them out into a twirl. Ren does the same to him and they spend a good few minutes like that. Making their own good clean fun independent of the music.

Until he catches something in the background. 

“Are those children? Who let some kids into the Imperial?”

Goro freezes and lets go of Ren as if he’s been burnt. A hundred apologies sprout on his tongue in an instant. Before any of them can come out Ren is already dragging him to the refreshments.

“Hey Goro let’s go get snacks.” Ren pipes up when they near the spread. 

“Oh I don’t know,” Goro says closing his eyes to dramatically consider their predicament. “It would be shame if something were to happen to the jewel while we were distracted by snacks.” 

When he doesn’t get a response he wonders if he’s finally done it. Since meeting Ren he’s never seen them angry. Annoyance, mild disdain, sarcasm, exasperation, he’d come close but no cigar. 

The assistant is nowhere to be seen.

There’s no reason for concern. Ren is grown he assumes, perhaps they have taken destiny by the reins and gone to the refreshments without him. 

Slippery as Ren may be Goro assumes that certain laws of the world still hold true. Physical limitations and the regular passage of time for example. The refreshments are but a few meters away. 

Unfortunately the refreshments display looks to be double the size of their office.

Goro keeps his eyes peeled for a huge black fur coat or bare shoulders. To his dismay both are in abundance and as far as he can tell none belong to Ren. Or one might be, with all the chandeliers and candles focused around the pavilion that houses the diamond it’s difficult to see in this area.

There must be a be a smarter way of doing this.

Goro plucks an eclair off a nearby plate and pops it into his mouth. He starts heading for the stairs. It’s a long shot in the dim lighting but maybe he’d be able to see more from higher up. The ballroom is alive with the chattering of the partygoers, the music, and everyone’s shoes clacking loudly on the parquet flooring. He’d likely be drowned out if he tried calling out for Ren.

Suddenly there’s a deafening clang and everything goes dark. In which order Goro isn’t sure, it hardly matters at this rate. Several people around him scream. The darkness only serves as a catalyst for taking things in the ballroom to their loudest and most stressful conclusion.

It wasn’t as if the ballroom was well lit before but it was a far cry from pitch black. Maybe a hair off from total darkness since there were several candelabras in the room. 

The candles. Goro’s eyes dart around the room and good heavens people were snatching the candles right out of the holders.

While his briefcase has a flashlight it doesn’t seem ideal to use it right this moment. 

The lights flicker back on with a loud buzz. Their efforts to strobe themselves back into form are met with more screaming. The return of the light flooding his dilated pupils has his eyes stinging.

“Everyone’s panicking.” A quiet voice sounds behind him. “They’re taking the candles, might cause a fire if they don’t calm down.”

Goro whirls around to find his assistant wiping their hands on their dress.

“The Phantoms are probably here,” Ren looks up at him, a bit too cool for comfort. “Let’s split up and look for them.”

Split up? What an interesting suggestion. 

The timing of the lights going out, Ren’s sudden absence, splitting up.

Goro stares long and hard at Ren as each piece falls into place. 

“Goro?” Ren cocks their head to the side.

“No need, I believe I’ve found them.” Goro says slowly. Ren’s constant dodging of phantom related topics, people who had access to a floor plan of the member’s only section of the Imperial.

It had been lingering in the back of his mind for a while now. Nameless thoughts lacking corporeal form finally began to take shape.

If it’s true this little hellion has caused problems for Lion Manor.

“Really?” 

Ren’s eyes are bright and something about their face begs a challenge. 

“Yes.” Goro nods and musters his best front page paper worthy smile. “Right _here_.”

His body lurches into action as he pins Ren to the wall by the shoulders.

Another loud clang rings through the air and the lights die again. Let them, he thinks. Nothing is going to keep him away from the prize, not when he’s so close.

“Amamiya Ren isn’t real are they.” Goro whispers, sliding his hands down and taking Ren’s limp hands in his. “You’re an awful actor. Every time I’ve mentioned the Phantoms you’ve blown the subject off.”

“Goro someone’s going for the display,” Ren keeps their head down, fringe obscuring their eyes.

“Ren I expected better from you.” He lays the mock disappointment thick, opening his eyes wide just short of fluttering his lashes. “At least look me in the eye if you tell a fib like that.” He tightens his grip. “Nice try I’m not letting you go,” he snarls.

Suddenly his cheek stings and there’s a breeze on his empty right hand. 

“Goro someone’s goin’ for the display _you egg_!” Ren hisses, head snapping up to face him. Their voice dripping with venom and a glare that can summon hellfire and brimstone. Next thing Goro knows Ren has his hand in a vice grip while dragging him to the centre of the room. 

By now his eyes have adjusted to the darkness and there indeed is a shadowy figure raising a hammer to the diamond’s case. He gives Ren’s hand a squeeze before letting go and they both charge to the case. The telescoping rapier Ren had passed him in the hallway is in the briefcase, but he can’t just take a knee in the heat of the moment. 

Even if he could he’s not sure what he’d use it for currently? Injuring the culprit? Not until he could see where he’d be swinging at least.

Unconsciously his hand trails to the holster on his side.

There is a backup plan, he could end this fast but it’d be loud. Not even getting into how Lion Manor would be pissed their (secret) good innocent Detective Prince was found firing a gun.

Goro snorts. As if he could see well enough to aim in the first place.

Before he gets a chance to further ponder bringing out the pistol there’s a loud crackle. 

An angry hiss sounds as white smoke rapidly billows around them. Out the corner of his eye he can see Ren charging into the smoke anyway. 

Time slows to a crawl and the seconds tick by like the pour of molasses. There’s a constant whomping sound but at the moment Goro can’t say it means anything to him. The sound crawls ever closer until Goro feels it. He feels it in the air blowing his face, the smoke rapidly thinning around them. 

Right as the smoke clears Goro is blindsided by something giant, fluffy, and thankfully soft hitting him with enough force to take the wind out his sails. Ren’s coat. 

He claws it away from his face just in time to see Ren charging at the speed of light then launching off the floor. Sticking the landing on the thief’s shoulders hard enough to stagger them a few steps. 

Whether Ren isn’t heavy enough or the thief is too sturdy it’s not enough to topple them. Goro’s heart freezes and leaps into his throat as the thief lumbers around while Ren hangs on the thief for dear life, legs locked tight around the thief’s neck. 

Ren is mere inches from the ceiling and the thief is a giant. It’d be so easy for them to slam Ren up. 

As if the thief catches onto this train of thought they rein their steps in before turning and-

Goro’s heart jolts and explodes all at once in his throat. The thief turns so their back faces one of the stone support columns and proceeds to slam themself Ren-first into the rock. 

A split-second before Ren makes contact, Goro watches as Ren throws their weight around on the thief’s neck. Swinging themselves around so they’re now on the thief’s front. Another second later and Ren topples back, now hanging upside-down. 

Goro’s made up his mind on what to do, but Ren’s far too close to the thief for it to be a viable option.

While Goro may hesitate Ren’s devil may care fortitude continues to shine brighter than any diamond. With some quick rummaging in their dress Ren pulls out one of their small knives.

Gripping the handle with one hand and bracing the other at the end, Ren doesn’t move. 

Goro can’t say he’d be willing to take out a knife and wave it willy nilly in Ren’s situation either.

They get over their apparent indecision and begin to move the knife towards the thief’s leg. Before the blade connects the thief starts to thrash about the pavilion to throw Ren off.

To Ren’s credit they seem to be holding fast despite being forcefully flopped around. However Goro doesn’t see how they can launch a counterattack like this.

A loud clatter sounds on the floor, in Goro’s hazy mind the sound cuts through the din of the crowd and his eyes zero in on the source. It appears the thief has shaken the rest of Ren’s knives loose.

Swallowing hard Goro tries his best to work through the two near heart attacks. Ren’s legs are going to give out any moment now he has to do something.

The thief remains still long enough to trip Goro’s ‘worst case scenario’ sense hard. Sure enough if he squints he can make out something in the thief’s hand, ready to strike Ren’s head.

The hammer from earlier.

Goro doesn’t even want to think about how much adrenaline must be pumping into him or how many swan dives and barrel rolls his heart must have done by now. 

To hell with it all. 

Time slows and his pupils grow. Goro jumps back, over Ren’s discarded coat. Thoughts are meaningless to him his body only moves and feels. Grabbing the coat he slings it over himself, turning from white to black. With only the false dark for his witness he takes the pistol from the holster.

The thief’s arm moves slowly, rising like sun cresting the horizon at the tail-end of a dark dark night and Goro bristles. He’s ready he’s never been more in his element so when the dawn finally comes he holds Ren’s coat tighter around himself with one hand and shoots for the thief’s hammer hand.

It’s deafening, he knows from experience, but Goro doesn’t hear it in that moment. In the wake of the roar he dimly registers the hammer clattering to the floor. Then in short order Ren’s legs go slack, only to flex again when Ren’s hands touch the floor and they gracefully round off. Landing primly next to the thief’s crumpled form on the ground. 

Under the cover of the coat Goro quickly unclasps the briefcase and drops the pistol in. He quickly tugs the coat off and folds it over his arm and grips his briefcase not too tight at all. 

Goro stands up very straight and marches over to Ren. He looks like a proper young adult that graduated from the Academy and has a promising life ahead. Heaven knows he’s never touched a gun in his life.

“Ren thank goodness you’re here!” Goro says running up and handing Ren their coat. “I lost track of everything after the thief triggered that smoke bomb. Is it over?”

Ren takes the coat but doesn’t meet his gaze. Following Ren’s line of sight takes Goro to his own left hand. 

There’s no way Ren saw him earlier or sees any residue on his lily white gloves. It would be on the coat if anything. He had been distant. Goro tells himself all these things but he has a million excuses on his tongue all the same.

Before any come out Ren turns away from his left hand and looks up at Goro.

“We should do something about that,” Ren says pointing to the thief. Then they look away. “How did a gun get in here? They’re gonna look for it.”

Goro bites his tongue for once. If it’s the police that end up looking for a gun, and it will be, that’s not his problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing a ton of akechi lately bc i think im close to a breakthrough on a characterisation that i like. 
> 
> Every time I write from his POV im just thinking about the messiest nicki minaj verses where she jumps between barbie and roman. Whether Akechi gains or suffers from this only time will tell.
> 
> Also the action scene this chapter marks the 2nd time ive actually been happy with something i wrote.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characterisation I had in mind for Akechi Goro this chapter was the kind of dichotomy like a woman named Leslie Gore singing a song called “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows”

As good as Goro has become at compartmentalising, at lying to himself, and at downplaying the transgressions of others, something about the way Kaneshiro’s party ends doesn’t sit right with him.

There’s the spectacle that comes after nabbing the thief. Select reporters had been at the party and were quick to leap on Goro after the thief had been led away. Somehow Ren disappears right before the press storm the pavilion. Typical.

How they’re all set up isn’t lost on Goro. In the pavilion he stands beside the unscathed Heart of Samael while photographers outside of the pavilion photograph him.

The city papers interview him while a crowd gathers. Moments before everyone had been screaming in the pandemonium and now they seemed to regard the night’s events as a quaint dinner show. 

Typical. Classic. All of it.

They tire of it eventually, they always do. When the crowd thins out and the reporters leave Goro feels something brush against his sleeve. 

“They just want to be entertained.”

There’s a sad note in Ren’s voice and Goro turns to look at them. Coat on obscuring their whole body and standing pretty. It’s like Ren has been here the whole time.

“Let’s go?” Ren continues.

Goro doesn’t think before nodding his head. 

The party has dragged on long enough that nary a soul hangs outside of the ballroom. Back through the long hallway and back out the doors of The Imperial they go. 

Goro feels their exit before seeing it, the first thing he experiences of the outside is the cold and mildly damp night air on his face. 

For a moment he stands still taking it all in. The night cold and the stars above, he’s so small in the midst of it all. He shudders. 

“You’re cold,” Ren says. 

“Just a little,” _or a lot._ Goro brushes it off. Whatever he planned on saying next dies on his lips as he watches Ren fiddle with their coat. If he’s underdressed then Ren may as well be nude.

“What are you doing?” He panics as Ren steps ever closer to him and his brain melts. How does- how. 

He opens and closes his hands ineffectually. Sure he had grabbed Ren earlier with no hesitation but that was different. 

“Ren?”

Ren throws half of their coat around him before he can offer a more convincing protest. The coat is warm, and Ren is warm next to him.

“There’s a soda fountain by the gate, should we wait there until the trolley starts up again?”

Goro resists the urge to pinch between his eyes. He brought his pocket watch but he wouldn’t be able to read it in the dark. There’s the flashlight in his briefcase but it would be such a long process just for telling the time. 

Not that he wants to know what time it is anyway, especially not when he has a much better plan.

“I was planning on hailing a taxi.” 

Ren’s eyes go wide and they bristle next to him.

“What’s that face for? You suggested going to a soda fountain in Ginza for several hours.”

Goro rolls his eyes when Ren stays tense. “Mr. Kaneshiro gave us quite the bonus. We can indulge.”

Walking while they both wear the same coat turns out to be much less awkward than Goro thought it would be. Though the sheer size of the coat probably contributes greatly to the effort. 

Originally Goro had been dreading finding a taxi at this hour. Usually the streets were dead by dark and given the number of people he’s witnessed staggering home he thought the taxis just stopped coming around.

They end up seeing available taxis before they see the gate, indicated by the concentration of headlights. With the abundance of taxis comes another awkward hurdle. Depending on how he worked it, his modest celebrity could influence their taxi fare. 

One driver shoots them a figure that sounds good enough so they climb in.

“Oh hey you’re that detective,” the driver says once they get a better look at Goro’s face and he freezes. However the driver leaves it at that and turns back around. Goro gives them their address, all is silent until they’re well on their way.

“Picked yourself up a friend at Kaneshiro’s dig?” 

“Oh heavens no,” Goro says laughing politely. “This is my assistant.” 

“Partner,” Ren mumbles blearily. 

Goro looks to Ren and pulls their end of the coat more snug around them. 

“Someone sounds tired,” the driver laughs. “I’ll let you kids to it then.” 

Even dressed to the nines and out of school he’ll be branded as a child. Too tired to follow that thought up he pulls his end of the coat tighter around himself then has a brief panic about how to settle. Courtesy tells him to lean against the window, his exhaustion tells him to lean on Ren.

Exhaustion wins.

***

“Ren,” he sing-songs gently when they step into the office. Whether his exaggerated charm also captivated Ren he had no idea, but it got him a reaction so Goro kept it up nonetheless. Despite all the excitement today, how dead bone tired he is, Goro still finds it in himself to ask his favourite question.

“Ren how did you find your way to my office?”

“You’re the detective.”

“What were you doing before?” He continues sweetly.

“Circus,” Ren says easily.

“Really?” Goro says perking up. It would make a lot of sense, Ren’s supernatural sleight of hand and agility, the knife proficiency.

“No.”

Goro deflates. 

“I’m going home,” Ren mumbles.

“One more question,” Goro says leaning back against his desk, hand held pensively to his chin. “Why do you stay?”

Ren turns around and looks him in the eyes. “What does the great detective prince think?”

Goro narrows his eyes, thoughts of information brookering or spying fill his mind. It’s something so illogical. A hunch, that’s what he has. Yet he knows with all his heart that he wasn’t wrong about earlier.

He banishes the thought. He’d already accused Ren of being a Phantom once today. Any more accusations and Ren might really leave. Thinking about why he associates negative feelings with Ren leaving makes something deep in his head shriek bloody murder.

So he makes a great show of mock consideration, tapping a finger to his lip and humming loudly.

“You like it.” The worlds tumble from his mouth easily.

“Yeah.” Ren answers simply.

A pregnant pause hangs in the air. Ren’s gaze stays on him and Goro cracks first. 

“Wait I meant-“ his mouth snaps shut and his cheeks heat up. What did he mean?

Ren smiles and it feels like the sun’s gentle rays. “Sleep soon okay? You worked hard today.” 

With those words and that smile they’re out.

Goro keeps his eye trained on the door for a while after Ren leaves the office. He would be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn’t dying to know more about Ren.  
Back when this gig had been thrust upon him, if he was capable of telling the truth Goro would have said that he’d like to be called a detective. That he would like to be treated as a charming and princely detective. However he had no interest in doing actual proper detective work.

At the present, in what may be the most successful case of ‘faking it until one made it’ ever Goro finds himself chasing a mystery housed in a person. 

Goro picks up the phone.

***

When they finally stumble into the door home the first pale blues of dawn bask the town. They kick off their heels and slide their dress off leaving it in a shiny heap on the floor. Extremely bad for the dress but it had been such a long day.

There probably wouldn’t be any time to sleep before they had to head back to the office.

“Akira we’re in the kitchen!” A voice calls out.

Akira drags themself into the kitchen and is immediately yanked into the crook of someone’s arm while someone else aggressively ruffles their hair.

“We did it thanks to you Akira! That sonnova bitch is gonna turn himself in any day now!” 

Akira smiles before pulling out of Ryuji’s hold and settles themself across his and Ann’s legs. “How did you get a burglar into there during the party?”

“Mweh heh heh,” Futaba laughs from the far end of the table. “After you gave me the layout I passed that info on to some choice contacts. Someone was bound to try it.” 

“It also helped that he conducted the truly genius move of putting all the details of his party on the front page of the paper.” Yusuke chuckles, handing them a bottle of juice. “What a generous man. The Imperial is a gorgeous building and I have always wanted to see the interior.”

They go back to their conversation and Akira listens in with half an ear. Eventually they up draped over Ann, Ryuji, Makoto, and Yusuke. Drifting in and out of dream states while soaking in their collective warmth. At some point Morgana joins in, settling on their side in such a way that Akira couldn’t move without throwing Morgana to the floor. 

Yet Akira wouldn’t have it any other way.

They think this but later they slide down everyone’s legs, jostling Morgana. 

“Oi I’m trying to get some shuteye here.” Morgana yowls. “Speaking of sleep we were in the palace today you should have been sleeping fifty hours ago!”

Akira yawns, rolling themself back up everyone’s legs and tugging Morgana to their chest.

“Say Akira you’ve been quieter than usual,” Morgana says headbutting their sternum, “what’s up?”

The drone and buzz in their mind gradually fades enough to leave several consistent trains of thought.

‘Amamiya Ren isn’t a real person are they?’

Akira thinks back to the ball, the sharp glint in Goro’s red eyes in the dark. How cocksure he’d sounded when accusing Akira of being a Phantom. 

“I think I might be in trouble.”

_‘I won’t let go.’_

Goro’s gloved hands on their wrists. The fragile kicked-puppy look on Goro’s face the whole way home.

“A lot of trouble,” Akira sighs, taking a long sip of juice.

***

Metaverse trips leave Akira tired enough that they fall asleep fast on those nights. Between preparing for the ball and the kerfuffle during then the subsequent treasure heist, Akira was out before they hit the pillow the night before.

There isn’t much change in the colour of the sky by the time Akira has to wake up and get ready for work. Disgusting.

Their jaw cracks around a big yawn. Akira wheels the bicycle out the door.

In the early days of the Akechi Detective Agency they had both chipped in to get a bike that could accommodate dresses. After getting said bike one thing snowballed into many things. Countless slow work days had been spent with the both of them attaching pegs, a back-rack, a basket. 

There was always work to be done on the bike. Tune-ups, replacing brake pads, the list went on.

Akira does think of the bike as their baby in some respect.

Yet when all was said and done Goro had insisted that Akira use the bike for getting to and from the agency since they lived further. According to Goro, he lived within walking distance of the office.

That had Akira raising an eyebrow. How anyone had the means to live in this area Akira had no clue. 

Rounding a corner too sharp nearly runs Akira into a lamp post.

Rested as they may be now they’re certain focusing in the agency is going to be hell in a few hours. Usually there’s a reasonable amount of downtime between cases. A downtime that gets shorter with every paper bearing Goro’s name.

They stock sweets, coffee, and water in the office in ample supply. Akira will get through the day.

Coming up on the the end of the street reveals that a light in the office is already on. Akira begins pumping the brakes.

In all the months they had been working together Akira can count the times Goro arrived to the office first on one hand.

Maybe Goro forgot to turn off the light before leaving last night. Not that that’s ever happened but there was a first for everything. Maybe it was an intruder, it wouldn’t be out of the question knowing their luck. Akira slowly rolls closer.

Those theories go out the window as Akira approaches the front door and finds that the ‘open’ sign in the window has been flipped. It could be nothing, something in Akira’s gut tells them it’s not but it was too late to do anything about it now. 

“Morning,” Akira says quietly closing the door behind them.

That Goro does not respond with the usual chipper greeting, that Goro had not greeted them first… Everything on this early morning has only served to throw Akira off kilter. The sky outside the windows is still a pale blue yet the lights are on, casting the whole office in an odd temporally ambiguous space.

Goro sits at his desk, chin resting on black-gloved hands and staring intently at something sparkly on the surface with an expression Akira has never seen on him.

“Good morning Ren,” Goro says looking at them and smiling, somehow lingering on the name with an especially honeyed tone. Voice all sunshine and rainbows yet something sounds decidedly off. Goro’s voice sounding carefully measured down to the millilitre is not new. 

This giddy tinge where Goro sounds like he can’t wait to tell Akira something but dangles it out of reach anyway, is.

Akira’s eyes quickly dart to the shiny object on the desk and blanches. The nerves in their brain and fingertips sear and prickle. Given how Goro’s smile grows that much wider Akira assumes they must be making quite the expression. 

“Kaneshiro Junya collapsed in The Imperial last night and was moved to the hospital,” Goro sounds positively deadly. Each word poison, the barest glint of red in his smiling eyes promises impending disaster.

“Is that so?” Akira responds with an easygoing-ness they do not feel. 

“Yes,” Goro flexes his fingers. Long spindly fingers in tight black leather gloves look like spiders. “The doctors believe it to be fatigue.”

Akira rolls their eyes. “After organising that party? You don’t say.”

“Indeed,” Goro nods sagely. “But as a precaution I was summoned to inspect the scene late last night. Most of everything I found could be attributed to the attempted robbery. However...” 

Goro meticulously pinches the familiar door-knocker earring on the desk and dangles it for Akira to see. 

“Did you happen to lose this? I found it next to the telephone,” he says smiling sweetly.

The prickling of their fingertips and the cold dread evaporates. 

Akira remembers where that earring dropped. 

And it wasn’t by the telephone on this side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the most divergent thing I’ve written for this fandom and I’m really happy with that!!! I feel like I’m the only into this kind of thing tho haha... I have a lot of rando stuff I wanted to put in this AU but they just didn’t fit so I might append little ficlets onto this in the future Iunno.


End file.
